Francis James Grimké
Francis James Grimké
Early life and education
Francis Grimké was the second of three sons born to Henry Grimké, a white slaveowner of Charleston, South Carolina, and Nancy Weston, an enslaved woman of European and African descent. After becoming a widower,[citation needed] the senior Grimké began a relationship with Weston. He moved with her out of the city to his plantation, where they and their family would have more privacy. She was his official domestic partner in the house, where he enslaved her and her children. Henry and Nancy gave Francis and his brothers—Archibald and John—their first lessons in reading and writing.
Henry Grimké had come from a large family. Two aunts, Sarah and Angelina Grimké, had become abolitionists and moved to the free states to join activists there. His other siblings continued to represent and carry out the expected roles, as he mostly did, of their prominent slaveholding family of Charleston.[citation needed]
Death of his father, American Civil War, and education
Henry Grimké died in 1852. As he was dying, Henry willed Nancy, who was pregnant with their third child, and their two sons, Archibald and Francis, to his son and heir, Montague Grimké, by his first wife. He directed that they "be treated as members of the family."[3]
Henry's sister Eliza, executor of his will, brought the family to Charleston and allowed them to live as if they were free, but she did not aid them financially. Nancy Weston took in laundry and did other work; when the boys were old enough, they attended a public school with free African Americans. In 1860, Montague "claimed them as slaves," bringing the boys into his home as servants.
After the
Francis and his brother went through many hardships afterward, as their father had kept them in slavery and not provided for them financially. After the Civil War, which disrupted family fortunes further, Francis and Archibald were enrolled at
In 1868, Angelina Grimké noted Archibald Grimké's surname in The Anti-Slavery Standard, after his speech was reported. Because of the unusual name, she wrote to learn whether he was related to her family. After learning that he was their nephew and about his brothers, Angelina and Sarah officially acknowledged the three mixed-race boys as family. The sisters supported the three boys while they were in college and opened their home to them. The youngest brother, John Grimké, did not go to school and chose to stay in Charleston with their mother, Nancy Weston.
Francis and Archibald both graduated from Lincoln University in 1870. Francis went on to graduate studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1878.[6] Francis became ordained as a Presbyterian minister.
Marriage and family
In December 1878, Francis married
Career
Francis began his ministry at the prominent
His elder brother Archibald was appointed consul to the Dominican Republic from 1894 to 1898. Archibald's daughter Angelina Weld Grimké stayed with Francis and his wife during that time. Angelina later became a teacher, prominent writer, and activist in her own right.
Francis was a participant in the March 5, 1897, meeting to celebrate the memory of Frederick Douglass, which founded the American Negro Academy led by Alexander Crummell.[7] He became the organization's founding Treasurer, serving in this capacity until 1919. He played an active role among the scholars, editors, and activists of this first major African-American learned society, which refuted racist scholarship, promoted black claims to individual, social, and political equality, and studied the history and sociology of African-American life.[8]
Except for a few years' sojourn at Laura St. Presbyterian Church (now known as Woodlawn Presbyterian Church) in Jacksonville, Florida, Grimké continued to lead the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. until 1928. He died in 1937, more than twenty years after Charlotte.
Francis Grimké said: "Race prejudice can't be talked down; it must be lived down."[9]
References
- ISBN 9781433519246. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- ^ "Francis Grimke: An African American Witness in Reformed Political Theology". Political Theology. November 22, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
- ^ a b c Diedrich, Maria I. (December 2, 2001). "Review: Lift Up Thy Voice:: The Grimké Family's Journey From Slaveholders to Civil Rights Leaders by Mark Perry". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- ^ a b c Simmons, William J.; Turner, Henry McNeal (1887). Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. Cleveland, Ohio: GM Rewell & Company. pp. 608–612.
- ^ Botsch, Carol Sears (February 18, 1997). "Archibald Grimke". University of South Carolina-Aiken. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2008.
- ^ Culp, Daniel Wallace (1902). Twentieth century Negro literature; or, A cyclopedia of thought on the vital topics relating to the American Negro. Atlanta: J.L. Nichols & Co. p. 426.
- ^ Seraile, William. Bruce Grit: The Black Nationalist Writings of John Edward Bruce. Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2003. p110-111
- ^ Alfred A. Moss. The American Negro Academy: Voice of the Talented Tenth. Louisiana State University Press, 1981.
- Grinké, Francis J. (1942). Woodson, Carter G. (ed.). The Works of Francis J. Grimké. Vol. 3. The Associated Publishers, Inc. p. 323.
Bibliography
- Carol Sears Botsch (February 18, 1997). "Archibald Grimke". The University of South Carolina-Aiken. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2008.
- Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller (February 20, 2005). "The Life and Witness of Reverend Francis Grimke". Westminster Presbyterian Church. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2008.
- Thomas, Rhondda R. & Ashton, Susanna, eds. (2014). The South Carolina Roots of African American Thought, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. "Francis Grimke (1850-1937)," p. 117-121.
- Woodson, Carter, ed. (1942). The Works of Francis J. Grimké. Three volumes. Washington, D.C.: The Associated Publishers, Inc.
External links
- Works by Francis James Grimké at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Francis James Grimké at Internet Archive
- Works by Francis James Grimké at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Francis J. Grimke at the African American Registry
- Quotes
- Francis James Grimké (1850–1937) at Log College Press, a nearly complete repository of his available works.